I am looking for information about an ancestor who worked in the mines and was a member of the UMWA.

Unfortunately we are unable to provide historical information on individual miners. During the past century there were literally millions of individuals who worked in the nation's coal mines. The UMWA never kept information on individuals for archival purposes because of the time, effort and expense of maintaining such voluminous records.

The UMWA's archives are housed at Penn State University (814 863-2505), where you can learn more about the history of the UMWA and its fight to improve the working and living conditions of its members. However, it is unlikely that the archives contain information on individual miners. Those records, if they still exist, would have been kept by the coal companies that employed the miners. Some companies donated their records to state historical societies or to local universities. We are unaware of any web site that provides information on such collections. For general information on immigration and naturalization records see the Census Bureau's GENEALOGY FAQ. You also may want to visit FamilySearch.org, a web site maintained by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon Church.)